John Calvin Commentary Joshua 10:6

"And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill-country are gathered together against us." — Joshua 10:6 (ASV)

And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua, etc. The course of the narrative is inverted; for the Gibeonites certainly did not wait until they were besieged. Instead, on seeing an army assembled and prepared, and having no doubt that they would have to bear the first attack as they had incurred general hatred, they anticipate the assault and hasten to seek Joshua's protection.

To desert those to whom life had been granted would have been at once unlawful, unjust, and inhumane. Indeed, as their surrender had followed from the agreement, they were entitled to be defended against violence and injury. Therefore, they justly implored the Israelites, under whose protection they were. There was no hesitation on Joshua's part, as he judged it his duty to defend those whose submission he had agreed to accept. It is true they had deceived him, but after the fraud was detected and they had confessed it, offering some mitigating circumstances, they had obtained pardon.

Thus, equity and a sense of duty did not allow the Israelites to abandon the Gibeonites to their fate. Still, Joshua is entitled to praise for his promptness in complying with the request and sending assistance without delay. He is said to have marched during the whole night and thus could not have proceeded with greater haste, even if the safety of the whole people had been at stake. If profane nations had always shown the same sincerity, they would rather have assisted their allies in a timely manner than avenged their disasters after they had suffered them.

However, the term suddenly should not be confined to a single day, as if Joshua had accomplished a three-day journey in a single night and made his appearance among the Gibeonites the next morning. All that is meant is his great speed and his not delaying his departure until the next day.

Although the Israelites moved their camp from Ai or that neighborhood, it was the third day before they entered the borders of the Gibeonites. Assuming that they then proceeded slowly in battle formation, Joshua was still at some distance when the request was made to him to assist the Gibeonites.

We have seen that Gilgal was the first station after crossing the Jordan and therefore more remote than Jericho. If anyone considers it absurd that after receiving the submission of several cities, Joshua should have turned back and left an empty district, the recovery of which from the enemy might again require new effort, I answer that there was no reason to fear that the enemy would come forward to occupy it and engage in an expedition attended with great danger and difficulty.

It is probable that when a body of troops was selected to attack Jericho, the women, children, and all others unfit for war remained in that quiet corner, where they might have the protection of those from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, who had been left on the opposite bank of the Jordan. For what purpose would they have carried with them into their battles children and women heavy with child, or nursing babies at their breasts? How, during the enemy's incursions, could food be found for such a multitude, or water sufficient to supply all their flocks and herds? I conclude, therefore, that Joshua and his soldiers returned to their tents so that they might refresh themselves for a short time with their wives and children, and there deposit the spoils with which they had been enriched.